BCS Rankings: Surprising Teams That Have Outside Shot at Bowl Games
As most college football fans have figured out by now, the BCS is a rather peculiar system. It leaves some highly-ranked teams, like Arkansas and Boise State, to fret over their inclusion while extending a hand others that have come out of nowhere.
But if there is a bit more chaos among other programs—and they take care of business themselves—these three teams may well sneak their way into the BCS party in January (much to the chagrin of their peers).
Michigan
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Michigan's rapid rise from the ashes of the ill-fated Rich Rodriguez era has been one of the better stories in college football. The work Brady Hoke has done on his first year on the job may net the Big Ten powerhouse a BCS bowl berth.
The Wolverines, currently ranked 15th in the BCS, can't make it into the dance automatically; they've already ceded control of the Legends Division to Michigan State. After taking it to No. 21 Nebraska on Saturday, they could garner serious at-large consideration, especially if they have a convincing win over Ohio State in "The Game."
After all, what BCS bowl—be it the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl or the Orange Bowl—wouldn't want a big-ticket program like Michigan on its bill to attract thousands of fans to the game and millions more to their TV sets?
Notre Dame
As for Notre Dame, one of Michigan's chief rivals, the BCS is more than just a dream. The Fighting Irish are unlikely to garner the top-eight ranking that would guarantee them a berth, but nine wins should be enough to get Brian Kelly's club into the at-large mix as a serious threat for selection.
Of course, scaling that nine-win plateau won't be easy. The Irish currently have eight victories and will need to beat Stanford in Palo Alto on Saturday to boost their resume before the bowl season.
Judging by the way Andrew Luck and the Cardinal have struggled in their last two home games—a 53-30 loss to Oregon and a narrow 31-28 victory over Cal in The Big Game—a win for Notre Dame might not be as much of a pipe dream as previously imagined.
Even so, the Irish, ranked 22nd in the BCS, would need some help from the teams ahead of them in the BCS standings to get within shouting distance of a big-money bowl.
Texas Christian
"Help" is also the operative word when discussing what No. 20 TCU needs to crack the BCS code for the third year running. The Horned Frogs have already sewn up the Mountain West Conference championship and need only beat 2-8 UNLV on December 3rd to move their record to 10-2 on the season.
From there, Gary Patterson's squad could work its way into the BCS in one of two ways:
1) With an automatic bid, if it moves into the Top 16 and No. 8 Houston loses to Tulsa this weekend and/or to Southern Mississippi the following weekend in the Conference USA Championship Game.
2) With an at-large bid, if it creeps up into the Top 14 and doesn't get passed over by the BCS powers-that-be for other, more attractive programs.
The chances are slim, but at least the Frogs have multiple options at their disposal.
| 1 | LSU | .9933 |
| 2 | Alabama | .9642 |
| 3 | Arkansas | .9099 |
| 4 | Oklahoma State | .8755 |
| 5 | Virginia Tech | .8400 |
| 6 | Stanford | .7974 |
| 7 | Boise State | .6935 |
| 8 | Houston | .6755 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | .6747 |
| 10 | Oregon | .5959 |
| 11 | Kansas State | .567 |
| 12 | South Carolina | .528 |
| 13 | Georgia | .497 |
| 14 | Michigan State | .453 |
| 15 | Michigan | .439 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | .382 |
| 17 | Clemson | .333 |
| 18 | Baylor | .295 |
| 19 | Penn State | .252 |
| 20 | TCU | .245 |
| 21 | Nebraska | .230 |
| 22 | Notre Dame | .136 |
| 23 | Georgia Tech | .120 |
| 24 | Auburn | .079 |
| 25 | Texas | .071 |
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
